Lawsuit Dismissal
Following the release of her first book Deceptively Delicious, on January 7, 2008, another author, Missy Chase Lapine, sued Seinfeld for copyright and trademark infringement. Lapine had unsuccessfully shopped her manuscript to several publishers, including Seinfeld's (HarperCollins), before it chose to publish Seinfeld's. In response to the accusations, Seinfeld said: "My book came from years of trying to get my own children to eat healthy foods--my own trial and error in my own kitchen. The idea of pureeing vegetables has been around for decades."
In separate court papers, a lawyer for Jessica Seinfeld accused Lapine of falsely claiming she invented the idea of hiding fruits and vegetables in children's meals when "countless prior works utilized this very same unprotectable idea," including a 1971 book. He called the lawsuit "opportunistic."
On September 10, 2009, the federal judge threw out all claims against Jessica Seinfeld. The federal judge ruled that "no reasonable fact finder could conclude" that copying occurred, and that the works were "very different" and that Seinfeld's book "has a completely different feel."
In February 2011, Seinfeld's law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher said: "The decision also vindicates HarperCollins and Jessica Seinfeld yet again, confirming what the two different federal courts have already ruled: Jessica independently created her bestselling book, 'Deceptively Delicious.'"
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